Google_ for Business_ How Google's Social Network Changes Everything - Chris Brogan [10]
What I’m talking about is that there were already 20 million users within the first few weeks, meaning that the service will quickly be viable as a social network. The issue with social networks from a business perspective is that you must wonder (and worry) about whether your prospective buyers, vendors, and customers actually use the network, and you must find out how easy or difficult it is to reach them. People care about numbers in this regard.
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In contrast to Google+’s user base in July 2011, Facebook had approximately 750 million users. That means that 1 in 11 people on the planet have a Facebook account. The immediate reaction that I get when talking about how Google+ might become the predominant social network choice for business users is that Facebook is so much bigger.
In the ’80s, AOL was much bigger than Facebook—because Facebook didn’t exist. Years later, Friendster was all the rage. In 2005, MySpace was the place to be. And yes, Google+ will likely vanish at some point, just like Facebook might vanish at some point. Whenever someone says something is here to stay, it’s easy to point out thousands of examples (especially online) of social networks and other services that were huge and then faded away.
But consider one huge difference: Google+ is a social network built by the company that’s held the rank of the #1 search engine for years and years. YouTube is the #2 search engine—and Google owns YouTube. By contrast, Facebook doesn’t even permit Google to index its content. At the time of this writing, Facebook dwarfs Google+ as a user base. The thing to keep your eye on is that search is how people find your business, and the #1 search engine in the world now pays close attention to what people do on Google+. If that doesn’t get your eyebrows raised and make you lean forward, I’m not sure what will.
Where Google+ Fits in the Business Ecosystem
Where does Google+ fit in the business ecosystem? This is harder to answer than you might think because that’s like answering the question, “Where does the phone fit in the business ecosystem?” Ask a salesperson, and he would say that Google+ is about nurturing prospects at the wide edge of the sales funnel. Ask a customer service or community person and she would say Google+ is a great community management tool. A PR or marketing professional would see this tool as great for business communications and awareness efforts. Someone focused on internal communications would say it is a collaboration tool.
All those answers are correct. How you want to use Google+ for your business is up to you. Many opportunities are worth consideration. It depends on how willing you are to adapt to using the tools, and it matters how you integrate the tools into the rest of your workflow. To that point, now look at some of the opportunities that Google+ offers.
Google+ Opportunities
Following are some of the many ways to use Google+ for your business:
• Collaboration: You can make a circle of coworkers and business colleagues and easily share information with them. This is a circle in which you probably wouldn’t share anything that is too personal, such as the fact you got your dog fixed or you’re having trouble making your mortgage payment. In business cases, you obviously wouldn’t share sensitive data in a public setting (even if there are privacy settings that “should” protect you). The tools for collaboration inside of Google+ are intuitive, offer many potential modes of interaction, and allow for strong communication options. You can send textual information with your team, point to links, share photos or videos, and use the Hangout feature to have live conversations with your team.
• Learning: This isn’t just a site for the bleeding-edge techies. All kinds of interesting communities have formed on Google+. Thousands of photography enthusiasts and professionals